


Harbor Adventures

by TooManyDucks



Series: Ruckus in The City [2]
Category: Theodore Tugboat (TV)
Genre: AU of my TUGS fanfic sorta if you squint, Alternate Universe - Human, Emily is Best Girl, Everyone else isn't human, Expect a Lot Of Running Gags, F/M, Fluff and Humor, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This While Eating a Corn Chip-, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by Fanfiction, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, On Fanfiction.net tho, Owan is Best Friend - 2018, Some bullying only in one chapter though, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Well basically the tugboats are all human, first work in this fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-05 20:31:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16374548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooManyDucks/pseuds/TooManyDucks
Summary: One day, Theodore and his friends come across a (well what used to be) a young, injured (well, what used to be) harbor switcher who ran away from her old harbor somewhere in Canada. Soon though, she and the others become fast friends and go on many different adventures together.





	Harbor Adventures

**Author's Note:**

> Please note, some of the chapters will be about PSAs, like for example, this first chapter will be about Child Abuse and how it can change someone's personality drastically.

While working in the harbor seemed like fun, if not difficult, someone had to get it done. At the same time though, desperate times called for desperate measures, especially for a (former) harbor switcher in Canada who usually went by the name of Opal. For her, work was very hard, especially due to being so young. She had to wake up at 6 in the morning, and if she made any sort of mistake or even accidentally fell asleep due to exhaustion, the (unusually) temperamental man she and some others worked for, would always hit her, and lose his temper with the others if they also made mistakes. 

Now, Opal had managed to get far away from the old harbor (which very likely had gone out of business at this point in time) and to... well, she wasn't too sure where she was. All she knew was that her almost severe wounds wouldn't let her go any further. She eventually fell asleep on the rocks close to shore. 

-Meanwhile-

"I know I saw someone over here somewhere...!" Theodore called out to George, who was just within hearing range. "Don't be silly, Theodore, I didn't see anything, it must've been your imagination." George replied, since it was getting late already. However, when he got closer to the rocks, he saw someone... moving? "What..? Who are you, and what are you doing there??" he questioned, causing whoever it was, to become very shy and unsure what to say.

"Hello? Don't worry, you'll be perfectly safe here." Theodore said to the person hiding, carefully walking over to them to show he was friendly. Upon closer inspection, it was a girl a little bit shorter than him. She had short light brown hair (with a red headband on top of her head) tied into a ponytail, and she seemed like quite a tomboy considering her outfit consisted of a red (with some green and yellow) hoodie t-shirt, blue shorts, and a pair of white gloves and sneakers. One thing about her that stood out the most however, were a bunch of cuts and bruises (mostly on her arms and legs).

Theodore couldn't believe it. "How... how did this happen?" he asked softly. "Th-The harbormaster at my old harbor used to get mad at me when I messed up, p-please don't send me back there...!" the young girl practically begged. "Don't worry, we won't if it'll make you uncomfortable. I'm.. Theodore by the way, and that's George." Theodore introduced himself, while George simply just mumbled an exhausted 'hi' under his breath. "I-I'm Opal." Opal greeted in return. 'Opal? That's a pretty name..' Theodore thought to himself.

"Theodore, it's getting late..!" George called to Theodore. "We can't just leave Opal here!" Theodore called back. "Why don't you just bring her with us or something?" George suggested. "I.. don't wanna be a burden to you." Opal said softly. "You won't be a burden, we have plenty of room." Theodore said with a friendly grin. "Uh.. I.. I guess, for now anyway." Opal replied sheepishly.

Back at the Big Harbor, The Dispatcher was waiting for Theodore and George to come back. But seeing another person with them caught him off guard. "I've been waiting for a while, you two were supposed to be back nearly an hour ago- uh.. who's that with you?" he asked with confusion. "This is Opal, she's from another harbor that went out of business a while ago, and she doesn't have anywhere else to go.." Theodore explained sadly. "She's really shy too." George added. 

The Dispatcher frowned for a moment at the mention of said harbor. He'd heard stories about that place, none of them good, though. "Well in that case, you're perfectly welcome to stay in the meantime, Opal. We'll figure something out when those bruises get better." he offered. "I.. th-thank you so much, sir." Opal said, sounding very thankful.

-a few days later-

While Opal was recovering, she was slowly introduced to the others, and even got to know Theodore and George better (since they were the first to find her) and she and Emily especially became fast friends. And it was at this point that the Dispatcher began to wonder if Opal would be good enough for working, due to her friendly and docile nature. 

The next morning, the Dispatcher was giving the group their jobs, and even asked Opal to be there as well. 'How come Opal is here too? Is she gonna work here? Is she gonna be sent somewhere else?' Theodore was so curious, he didn't even hear what the Dispatcher had said, and was confused when he saw Opal looking very surprised. "Did ya hear that, Theodore? We got the night shift..!" she chirped, jumping for joy. 

Once Theodore knew what was going on, he was surprised about two things: first, Opal was actually happy (or at least expressing it) now, and second, she was going to be helping out around the Big Harbor! He couldn't help but let a large grin make its way onto his face, earning a snicker from Hank.

"Okay, the rest of you get to work, you two stay here." the Dispatcher told Theodore and Opal. 

-Later that same evening-

"Uh.. Theodore? What Exactly are we 'sposed to do during the night shift?" Opal asked as she and Theodore headed out. "Oh, stuff. But tonight we're supposed to move Owan the Oil Rig across the harbor, since very few ships come into the harbor at night." Theodore explained, slowly stopping. "Where is he?" Opal couldn't see very well in the dark, that was until Owan's lights turned on. 

"Hi, kids!" Owan greeted them happily. "Hi Owan..! This is my new friend, Opal, she's gonna be helping out in the harbor from now on." Theodore explained, barely unable to contain his excitement. "Great! Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, yessireebob!" Opal snickered a little at Owan's enthusiasm. "Well.. we'd better get going before the sun comes up." she reminded Theodore. 

-6 seconds later-

Needless to say, Owan was by far, the most (if not the only) heaviest thing Opal had ever pulled, and she was quite relieved when she and Theodore finally made it to the other side of the harbor. "Well, that should do it." Theodore sighed happily. "Thanks a bunch, you two! Say, you two should take a look around the shore when the tide goes out, it looks almost unrecognizable..!" Owan remarked. "We will, see ya later, Owan...!" Opal chirped before she and Theodore headed back.

It was already morning by the time the two got back home since the Dispatcher was already giving out jobs to the others. "What can we do?" Opal asked curiously. "Well, I'm afraid I don't have any jobs for you right now, Opal, but you should take a look around the harbor so you'll know your way around. And Theodore, you have to go and get a new tow rope." the Dispatcher explained, causing Theodore to blush, and for Emily and Opal to snicker. 

Once everyone went out to do their jobs, Opal stood quietly for a moment. "Uh.. mister Dispatcher? I... I really just wanna say thank you. At first, I thought I was just gonna be a nuisance to deal with, but.. I've made so many new friends in the last couple days, it's a lot better than my old job since nobody hit me or anythin' like that." she explained. 

"Actually Opal, you also ought to consider yourself lucky. Not all others who've been in your situation have been as fortunate as you are, plus, there are also a few who.. don't actually make it. I'm just glad you're safe now, and that you've also been a great help around here lately. That, and the others seem to have nothing but good things to say about you. I really hope working here has a positive impact on you." the Dispatcher explained with a smile.

Opal couldn't describe how she was feeling right now, but she was pretty sure it was pride and confidence.

**Author's Note:**

> By the way, I swear I don't know why Owan's name in the tags is in caps-


End file.
